Liverpool have won 2-1 against Lille in their Champions League match at Anfield.

Mohamed Salah scored on the counter-attack in the first half and the hosts were cruising when Lille’s Aissa Mandi was sent off for a second bookable offence.

But Jonathan David’s equaliser stunned the home side, who then enjoyed a slice of luck as Harvey Elliott’s speculative strike took a deflection on its way in.

The result meant Liverpool have won seven out of seven games in the new league phase and have qualified for the last-16.

Re-live all the action from Anfield below:

Liverpool send message as Arne Slot's untouchables sail into Champions League last-16

Richard Jolly’s report from Anfield:

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21 January 2025 22:21

Salah: 'We are disappointed to let them score'

After scoring his 50th Champions League goal, Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah said on Amazon Prime: "Hopefully it's not the last one but it's something I'm very happy and proud about, especially because we won the game. That's the most important thing. I wasn't focused (on the record) to be fair.

"They had a really good game plan, they were unbeaten in 21 games so they were quite a tough team and it showed in that first half. In the second half we give them all the credit but we managed to win the game.

"I don't think we switched off (when Lille went down to 10 men) but I think they went to counter-attack and they managed to score so we are disappointed in that because a clean sheet is important for us and our defensive line. I'm sure the manager will speak about that.

"We have a different manager and different players (to the last time Liverpool won the Champions League) but we have good talent, the players are working hard and the manager has a good idea so we will try and we will see."

Lawrence Ostlere21 January 2025 22:28

Bologna stun embattled Dortmund 2-1 with two-goal comeback in two minutes

Bologna struck twice in two minutes to bag a 2-1 comeback win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday and earn their first win in the competition while piling pressure on the embattled Germans who suffered a fourth straight loss across all competitions.

Dortmund, who took the lead with a 15th-minute Serhou Guirassy penalty, have now lost all their matches in 2025, after Bologna staged a quickfire comeback with goals from Thijs Dallinga in the 71st and Samuel Iling-Junior a minute later.

With coach Nuri Sahin's future now in the balance, Dortmund, who play Shakhtar Donetsk on the last matchday, dropped to 13th on 12 points. The top eight teams advance to the round of 16 with the next 16 teams going into playoffs.

The Italians, who had scored only one goal in their previous six Champions league matches, move up to 27th with five points.

Lawrence Ostlere21 January 2025 22:07

Liverpool 2-1 Lille: match summary

Liverpool booked their spot in the last 16 of the Champions League with a 2-1 victory over 10-man Lille on Tuesday at Anfield, thanks to goals from talisman Mohamed Salah and substitute Harvey Elliott.

Arne Slot's men maintained their 100% record and top the 36-team table with 21 points, three points clear of second-placed Barcelona with one game of the league phase remaining.

Salah netted his 50th European goal for Liverpool in the 34th minute when he sprinted onto a long pass from Curtis Jones before curling a shot around goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier.

Despite being reduced to 10 men when Aissa Mandi was shown his second yellow card in the 59th minute, Jonathan David levelled for the visitors three minutes later when he hammered home the loose ball after Hakon Arnar Haraldsson's shot was blocked.

Liverpool quickly regained the lead when a corner was headed out to the edge of the box and Elliott fired a crisp shot that took a wild deflection into the net in the 67th minute.

Lawrence Ostlere21 January 2025 22:03

Full-time: Liverpool 2-1 Lille

And there it is, a job well done, albeit with a brief second-half scare.

Liverpool have played seven, won seven, and they will definitely qualify for the last-16.

Lawrence Ostlere21 January 2025 21:53

Liverpool 2-1 Lille

90 min: Mac Allister is booked for a bit of a hack. Liverpool are nearly over the line here, though. Three minutes of added time to come.

Lawrence Ostlere21 January 2025 21:51

Liverpool 2-1 Lille

88 min: Chiesa fires a low shot which is well saved, and Nunez pounces to tap home. But he was quite clearly offside, and the flag quickly goes up.

Lawrence Ostlere21 January 2025 21:49

Liverpool 2-1 Lille

85 min: Trent Alexander-Arnold replaces Conor Bradley.

Lawrence Ostlere21 January 2025 21:44

Liverpool 2-1 Lille

84 min: Liverpool deal with the corner but Lille come again, that is until David is ruled offside chasing down a ball over the top.

Lawrence Ostlere21 January 2025 21:44

Liverpool 2-1 Lille

82 min: Lille are starting to look bright once more, despite being a man down, as they probe for an equaliser. They have a corner.

Lawrence Ostlere21 January 2025 21:43

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Harvey Elliott’s first Champions League goal in over two years secured a seventh successive Champions League victory but the guarantee of top spot was frustratingly denied them by a late Barcelona goal in Lisbon.

A 2-1 victory looked to have done the job with a game to spare only for the second-placed Catalans to beat Benfica 5-4 with a goal in the sixth minute of added time to ensure the race for first place will go to the final fixture.

While Mohamed Salah reached another landmark with his 50th European goal it needed 21-year-old substitute Elliott to provide the decisive strike after the Reds’ defence was breached for the first time in a minute short of 10 hours in the competition.

A last-16 spot is now secured but head coach Arne Slot would have liked to have returned to his Netherlands homeland to face PSV Eindhoven next week with top spot safe to give him the option of resting players.

Aissa Mandi’s 59th-minute dismissal for a second bookable offence should have made the evening more comfortable but moments later Jonathan David scored with Lille’s only shot on target.

However, unlike at Brentford at the weekend, Liverpool did not require any added-time heroics on this occasion as Elliott smashed home a half-cleared corner with the aid of a deflection off Ngal-Ayel Mukau.

There was little of the drama of Darwin Nunez’s late show on Saturday as this was another economical and efficient European performance lit up by a few moments of quality against brave opponents who arrived at Anfield on a 21-game unbeaten run.

The first came in the 34th minute when Curtis Jones’ pass from 15 yards inside his own half released Salah, who with only goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier to beat took his shot early and found the back of the net.

When the clock ticked on two more minutes Liverpool set a new club record for most minutes without conceding a European goal, beating the 572 set under Rafael Benitez in the 2005-06 season.

The only other goal they had let in came three minutes into their first group game against AC Milan in September.

Lille would have seen three of Liverpool’s back four – Conor Bradley, Jarell Quansah and Kostas Tsimikas – were not regulars and may have fancied adding their hosts’ scalp to those of Real and Atletico Madrid, and Gabriel Gudmundsson fired wide after just 38 seconds having beaten Bradley down Liverpool’s right.

But the rest of the home team, with the exception of the rested Alexis Mac Allister, was full-strength and Salah posed a threat early on before clinically taking his chance.

Jones missed his tackle on David in front of the technical area but recovered the ball when Tsimikas pressured the striker. He sent Salah racing away and his team-mate duly delivered.

The Egyptian should have doubled his side’s lead when a superb touch brought Dominik Szoboszlai’s raking long diagonal pass under control but he pushed his shot wide of the far post.

Elliott and Mac Allister came on for the second half, with Jones seemingly carrying a groin problem.

Both played their parts but Elliott’s was vital after David squeezed a shot between Tsimikas and Virgil van Dijk, after Hakon Arnar Haraldson’s initial effort was blocked, ending Liverpool’s defensive resilience at nine hours and 59 minutes.

When a corner was only partially cleared Elliott, on the edge of the penalty area, smashed home first time with the touch off Mukau wrong-footing the goalkeeper.

Nunez tapped home a rebound in the 90th minute only to be flagged offside but Liverpool now head to Eindhoven with a 100 per cent record to maintain as they target the club record nine successive European wins set in October 1984.

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On a night of one historic achievement for Liverpool, injury-time drama in Lisbon meant they will have to wait a little longer for another. As they surpassed the defensive efforts of any of their European Cup-winning teams, they booked a place in the last 16 of the new-look Champions League. It took an improbable comeback by Barcelona against Benfica to mean they still need another point to become the inaugural winners of the 36-team group stage. There is no trophy for it, but it would be a notable feat nonetheless.

For Arne Slot, a debut European campaign with Liverpool still includes a 100 per cent record. Lille, fellow conquerors of Real Madrid, arrived at Anfield unbeaten in 21 games and were duly defeated 2-1. As Liverpool’s six previous victims came exclusively from Serie A, the Bundesliga and LaLiga, before a ball was kicked in this tournament there were reasons to wonder if they would end up in the play-off round. Instead, with a game to go, they are guaranteed a top-two finish in the pool. A frugal streak has helped: even as Liverpool conceded, they still set a club record, going 599 minutes without being breached in Europe between Christian Pulisic’s strike for AC Milan, three minutes into their campaign, and Jonathan David’s equaliser for Lille.

It was sandwiched by Mohamed Salah’s opener and Harvey Elliott’s winner, goals that may mean the winger gets a night off when Liverpool visit PSV Eindhoven next week, and the midfielder a rare start. Liverpool know now that the rearranged Merseyside derby, which will clash with the play-off games on 12 February, can go ahead. They will have no continental commitments then.

There was a sense from Slot that the job was almost done. He made three changes in his back four, though Kostas Tsimikas, Conor Bradley and Jarell Quansah all impressed, brought Elliott on at half-time and gave substitutes Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo their longest runouts in this competition as Liverpool players. With games against Ipswich and PSV next, they may eye other opportunities.

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Yet while they have been bit-part players, this has been a collective effort. Liverpool’s 599-minute shutout came courtesy of two goalkeepers, a duo of right-backs, a pair of left-backs and their four main central defenders. Their previous best, of 572, came for Rafa Benitez’s defence, anchored by Sami Hyypia and Jamie Carragher, fresh from Champions League glory in 2005.

Two decades on, Liverpool benefited from a Champions League winner in attack. Salah had not scored in his previous three games. He had been quiet in the opening half-hour, one shot aside. Yet he has the capacity to spring to life when he senses an opening. It has been a feature of his season that very few of his goals have come early in games. On 34 minutes, this was one of the quickest. It was taken superbly.

Tsimikas tackled Jonathan David, Curtis Jones played a defence-splitting pass from inside his own half and, with Lucas Chevalier rushing out of his box, Salah curled a first-time finish beyond the goalkeeper.

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There could have been a second from a similarly devastating break. From the edge of his own box, Luis Diaz lofted a pass over the Lille back four. Salah’s first touch was immaculate, to take the ball down. His last was more imprecise, placing his shot just the wrong side of the post. Then Salah, going from muted to rampant, rolled another shot wide. As Chevalier made another ill-advised foray from his line, Quansah headed over the bar.

Lille had offered early evidence of their mettle, starting with the confidence of a team who had not lost for four months. Gabriel Gudmundsson whistled a shot wide after 30 seconds. They nevertheless came back into the game in illogical fashion. Aissa Mandi collected his second yellow card for a tug on Diaz. Perhaps Liverpool lost concentration or gave way temporarily to complacency, but Lille responded.

Liverpool’s record-breaking run ended a minute before the 10-hour mark. David struck after Hakon Amar Haraldsson’s shot was blocked but the Canadian, the matchwinner against both halves of Madrid, slotted in the rebound. It was Lille’s first shot on target.

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Liverpool had a suitable comeback of their own. Tsimikas’ set-pieces posed Lille problems and, after his corner was only cleared as far as Elliott, his half volley was well struck, but the deflection off Ngal’Ayel Mukau meant Chevalier stood no chance.

Darwin Nunez, scorer of two legitimate injury-time goals at Brentford, had one disallowed here for offside and this time, Lille could not fight back. They nevertheless acquitted themselves well even as their own run ended.

Ligue Un has three overachievers in the Champions League, in Lille, Brest and Monaco, albeit overshadowed by a high-profile underachiever, in Paris Saint-Germain. Yet the reward for all three may only be a place in the play-offs. They will not be joined there by Liverpool. Many another club will have to worry about the permutations and the draw but they have sailed into the last 16.

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Aston Villa have rejected a bid from Premier League rivals West Ham for forward Jhon Duran, the PA news agency understands.

West Ham first registered an interest in Duran last summer but failed to pursue initial advances for the Colombian striker and he signed a new deal with Villa until 2030 in October.

However, the Hammers have stepped up their efforts to bring the 12-goal forward to London and had a bid reported to be in the region of £57million turned down by Villa on Monday.

The transfer speculation is an unwanted distraction for Villa ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash away to Monaco.

Leading scorer Duran is set to be involved, but, with 20 of his 27 appearances this season having come as a substitute, boss Unai Emery acknowledged it was a challenge for him to find a way to play the highly-rated attacker with Ollie Watkins.

Watkins scored his 10th goal of the campaign in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Arsenal and insisted post-match he could partner Duran, which has only happened once under Emery in the 5-0 loss away to Crystal Palace last May.

Asked about playing Watkins and Duran together, Emery told reporters in Monaco: “Firstly, it’s my challenge. It’s my challenge to try to get the best individually and then collectively.

“Collectively means maybe playing together, but we have to work tactically because to play with two strikers, two proper strikers, is not the same task as playing together, because they have to try to help the team as well offensively and defensively.

“I think I can find a solution to play at the beginning and start them together, but they have to understand the role.”

Villa have enjoyed an excellent return to Europe’s elite competition with four wins out of six matches to sit fifth in the new league phase of the Champions League.

A top-eight finish would send Villa – currently on 13 points – directly through to the last 16 and avoid an extra knock-out tie next month.

Emery added: “I think we need three or four more points to get the top eight.

“Our target is to be in the top eight and tomorrow is the key. Firstly because Monaco has an opportunity if they are beating us to get 16 points and maybe they could be in the top eight as well.

“Our opportunity and our objective is not to get 16 – we will try to get 19 points because with that we will be there for sure.”

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Chelsea moved back into the Premier League top four with a fine, and much needed, 3-1 win over Wolves at Stamford Bridge.

Goals from Tosin Adarabioyo, Marc Cucurella and Noni Madueke were enough to give the Blues their first league win in six games and propel them back into the title race. They are 10 points behind Liverpool, but Enzo Maresca’s men have ended their dip in form.

It seemed likely from the start as Chelsea pushed Wolves deep, creating chances from space on the wings and taking advantage of Vitor Pereira’s side’s weakness at defending set pieces. Tosin’s opener came from a corner and a fortuitous, deflected strike from Reece James, with the Chelsea defender keeping himself onside to poke home.

There was a scare just before half-time as Matt Doherty drew Wolves level but a five-minute flurry in the second half saw Marc Cucurella and Noni Madueke turn the ball in to give Chelsea a comfortable win.

Relive Premier League action from Stamford Bridge with our live blog below:

Noni Madueke speaking to Sky Sports:

“I got the hat-trick [against Wolves] earlier on in the season and it's another one today. I'm delighted with the three points. It's been tough for us and I'm always happy to score goals, especially somewhat easier ones like that.

"It's instinct. Attacker's instinct. I knew it was going over the line. I said sorry to Trevoh after. I had to put this in the net for sure. He was saying 'no way you took my goal' but I said 'you have to understand, this is what they pay me for'."

Mike Jones20 January 2025 22:25

Doherty's love for London

Matt Doherty’s last five Premier League goals have come against London clubs, with four of them coming in the British capital.

The last time he netted against a non-London club in the Premier League was Newcastle in April 2022.

Mike Jones20 January 2025 22:20

Set piece troubles

Wolves have conceded 11 goals from corners in the Premier League this season, more than any other team.

They’ve conceded 19 goals from set pieces (excluding. penalties), at least seven more times than any other side.

Mike Jones20 January 2025 22:16

Chelsea up to fourth

Chelsea’s win sends them into the top four and ahead of Newcastle and Manchester City.

Enzo Maresca doesn’t believe his team are in the title race, and it seems unlikely.

The Blues are 10 points behind leaders Liverpool who also have a game in hand.

That’s a big gap to claw back but there’s still time in the season to do so.

Mike Jones20 January 2025 22:12

FT Chelsea 3-1 Wolves

Mike Jones20 January 2025 22:05

FT Chelsea 3-1 Wolves

Chelsea moved back into the Premier League top four with a fine, and much needed, 3-1 win over Wolves at Stamford Bridge.

Goals from Tosin Adarabioyo, Marc Cucurella and Noni Madueke were enough to give the Blues their first league win in six games and propel them back into the title race. They are 10 points behind Liverpool, but Enzo Maresca’s men have ended their dip in form.

It seemed likely from the start as Chelsea pushed Wolves deep, creating chances from space on the wings and taking advantage of Vitor Pereira’s side’s weakness at defending set pieces. Tosin’s opener came from a corner and a fortuitous, deflected strike from Reece James, with the Chelsea defender keeping himself onside to poke home.

There was a scare just before half-time as Matt Doherty drew Wolves level but a five-minute flurry in the second half saw Marc Cucurella and Noni Madueke turn the ball in to give Chelsea a comfortable win.

Mike Jones20 January 2025 22:00

Full-time! Chelsea 3-1 Wolves

90+5 mins: Chelsea get their win.

Enzo Maresca’s side jump back into the top four and are still without touching distance of the title race.

The more immediate result for the Blues boss is that his team are back to winning ways and secured three points at Stamford Bridge.

Mike Jones20 January 2025 21:58

Chelsea 3-1 Wolves

90+2 mins: Chance! A quick break from Chelsea sees Jadon Sancho bomb into the box with the ball before slipping it into the box for Nicolas Jackson.

Jackson shoots but sends the effort wide of the nearest post.

Mike Jones20 January 2025 21:54

Chelsea 3-1 Wolves

90 mins: Five minutes of added time to play at Stamford Bridge.

Mike Jones20 January 2025 21:53

Chelsea 3-1 Wolves

87 mins: Tyrique George is on for his Premier League debut with Joao Felix a fellow substitute for Chelsea.

Cole Palmer and Noni Madueke come off.

Mike Jones20 January 2025 21:51

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Chelsea climbed back into the Premier League’s top four with a 3-1 victory over Wolves at Stamford Bridge to end a five-game winless run.

It had looked like being the same old story for Enzo Maresca’s team when, at the end of a half they had dominated, goalkeeper Robert Sanchez blundered at a corner and allowed Matt Doherty to wipe out the lead given to them in the 24th minute by Tosin Adarabioyo.

It was another first-half lead squandered just as in games recently against Fulham, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth, but whereas seven points had previously been dropped from winning positions, this time Chelsea found their bite after the break to see off Wolves.

Marc Cucurella restored the lead, scoring as he had done the last time his side won in the league on December 15, then Noni Madueke quickly headed a third to prevent any late nerves.

For the first time in his tenure, Maresca’s selection was significantly affected by injuries.

Enzo Fernandez, Romeo Lavia and Levi Colwill were all ruled out, with the situation compounded by the longer-term absences of Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile.

It meant a full league debut in blue for Kieran Dewsbury-Hall, while Reece James returned for his first start since early November. Trevoh Chalobah, recalled early from his loan at Crystal Palace, was also thrown in and was welcomed back in full voice by home fans.

Chelsea’s barren run had been marked by early dominance of opponents with too little to show in return.

After 20 minutes here they had completed 35 passes in the final third compared with Wolves’ two, but all they really had to show was a low drive by Cole Palmer from the edge of the box, pushed to safety by Jose Sa.

Home fans were given an anxious wait to learn whether their team had taken the lead in the 25th minute.

James, fresh from his stoppage-time free-kick that rescued a point against Bournemouth, blasted goalwards as the ball dropped to him from a corner, his effort deflecting to Tosin who was shown by VAR to have been fractionally onside.

The defender turned and whacked in his third goal of 2025 to ease home supporters’ nerves.

It was, worryingly for Wolves boss Vitor Pereira, the 18th goal his side had conceded in the league from a set piece, seven more than any other team in the division.

Yet in the final minute of the half, it was Sanchez in Chelsea’s goal who showed ineptitude at a corner, fumbling the ball out of two hands against the back of Moises Caicedo and into the path of Doherty who stabbed Wolves level.

Right on the hour, Chelsea retook the lead. Madueke’s inswinging cross from the right received the faintest flick from Dewsbury-Hall, enough to carry it onto the chest of Cucurella who reached out a leg to force it beyond Sa.

Thereafter it was plainer sailing. From a Palmer free-kick, Madueke turned the ball home from on the goal-line, denying Chalobah a dream return with the defender’s header having seemingly been destined for the net.

For Wolves, make that 19 set-piece goals conceded, and a precarious placement above the relegation zone on goal difference only.

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Jamie George limped off with a hamstring problem late in Saracens’ 32-24 Investec Champions Cup defeat by Castres to compound a miserable week for the England hooker.

Replaced as England captain by club team-mate Maro Itoje when Steve Borthwick named his Guinness Six Nations squad on Tuesday, he then suffered an injury at StoneX Stadium that could place his involvement against Ireland on February 1 in doubt.

George came on for two-try front row Theo Dan in the 55th minute but was forced off in the closing stages with Saracens unable to indicate the extent of the damage.

“Jamie has hurt his hamstring. We’re not quite sure how serious that hamstring is at the moment,” director of rugby Mark McCall said.

George’s late withdrawal and a serious knee injury sustained by Toby Knight added to a frustrating afternoon in north London, where Castres finally won after 21 successive away defeats in the Champions Cup.

Both teams had already qualified for the round of 16 and were battling for home advantage – a reward that goes to the Top 14’s eighth-placed club after they showed greater fight and flair to close out a deserved win.

And they achieved the upset despite naming entirely new starting XV following their 49-10 demolition of the Bulls last weekend and in defiance of their reputation as flaky travellers.

“It was a really poor performance by us. Castres thoroughly deserved to win the game and we got what we deserved as well, which is a hard thing to say,” McCall said.

“Our mentality for some reason wasn’t quite right and that’s on me and the coaches. It was a really disappointing day. Castres definitely outenthused us. They were really up for the game.

“We had plenty of the ball but we were poor with it and they defended against us comfortably. Then they struck when the opportunities arose for them. It was such a disappointing day.

“All 15 of the players they brought in had played in the last five weeks, just not together.

“It wasn’t a pack of kids, they were proper rugby players and we did try to communicate that to the team. We just weren’t quite there mentally.”

Castres finish second in Pool Three – Saracens have to settle for fourth – and their forwards coach Karena Whiongi acclaimed a special win.

“There’s a great atmosphere in the changing room. The boys put in an awesome performance,” he said.

“This was about character. We got up hard on the line and it turned out well for us. We forced a lot of handling errors. We got the ball back, got it our wide and kept up the pressure on them. That’s what the gameplan was. Great!

“This will give us great confidence. To win here is one out of a million. Let’s see how the rest of the championship goes.”

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Phil Foden scored twice and Erling Haaland celebrated his bumper new deal with a goal as Manchester City romped to their biggest Premier League win for more than two years.

Foden, a key part of City’s recent mini-revival, took his tally to five goals in his last three matches in a 6-0 thumping of relegation-threatened Ipswich.

Haaland helped himself to a goal at the end of a week in which he committed himself to the club for the best part of a decade, while Mateo Kovacic, Jeremy Doku and James McAtee were also on target as City, who kicked off in eighth place, moved above Newcastle into fourth on goal difference.

It was their biggest league win since hammering Nottingham Forest by the same scoreline in August 2022, and it means Pep Guardiola’s side are back in the top four for the first time since 1 December.

They should have gone ahead after 15 minutes when Kovacic’s through-ball carved Ipswich open and sent Haaland clean through, but his shot was saved by Christian Walton.

Ipswich briefly threatened when former City youngster Liam Delap was shoved over on the left and Leif Davis took the free-kick short to Omari Hutchinson, whose shot was deflected narrowly over.

Ederson, back in the City goal after Stefan Ortega received an on-pitch dressing down from Guardiola when they blew a two-goal at Brentford in midweek, then held Dara O’Shea’s header from the resulting corner.

But just as belief was starting to grow among the home fans at Portman Road, City struck, and never looked back.

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Doku fed Kevin De Bruyne down the Ipswich right and his cross bounced kindly for Foden, who took a touch before swivelling and firing home inside the six-yard box.

Three minutes later City doubled their lead, with Foden teeing up Kovacic to drill a low shot through a crowded penalty area into the net.

“You’re going down with United,” came the chant from the City end, their fans revelling in their neighbours’ demise against Brighton in the early kick-off.

Suddenly City looked like scoring with every attack and De Bruyne skied one chance before squaring for Foden to roll number three under the diving Walton.

The half-time whistle offered Ipswich some respite and they almost pulled a goal back after the restart when Ben Johnson’s shot was kept out by Ederson.

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But seconds later they were four down, with Doku cutting inside from the left and seeing his effort deflected past Walton by O’Shea.

Haaland got his goal just before the hour, with Ipswich’s Jack Clarke the fall guy after his square pass went straight to Doku.

The Belgian winger slid the ball through to Haaland, who calmly slotted his 22nd goal of the season past Walton.

Haaland was soon given the rest of the afternoon off, and the substitute McAtee rounded off the scoring by heading in Kovacic’s cross with 20 minutes left.

Memories of Ipswich’s 9-0 humiliation by Manchester United 30 years ago must have come flooding back but, mercifully for them, City declared on six and now turn their attention to salvaging the rest of their campaign.

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Ruben Amorim made an alarming statement after his Manchester United side slumped to a sixth home league defeat of the season in defeat to Brighton by claiming they might be the “worst” in the club’s history.

United and their fans paid tributes to the legendary striker Denis Law before kick-off, but the current side United came unstuck once again on the pitch with a dismal start thanks to Yankuba Minteh firing the visitors in front inside five minutes.

Although Bruno Fernandes levelled from the penalty spot, something of a gift from Brighton, Kaoru Mitoma had Brighton back in front on the hour before a horrible error from Andre Onana was punished by Georginio Rutter to ensure there would be no late United fightback.

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United have been relegated five times, most recently in 1974, something still highly unlikely to be repeated this season.

But they have not lost this many of their first 12 home league games since the 1893-94 season – when they were still known as Newton Heath and 17 years before moving to Old Trafford.

“In (nine) games in the Premier League, we won two,” Amorim said. “I know that, imagine what this is for a fan of Manchester United, imagine what this is for me. We are getting a new coach who is losing more than the last coach. I have full knowledge of that.

“I am not going to change, no matter what. I know we can succeed, but we need to survive this moment. I am not naive. We need to survive now.

“We are the worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United. I know you want headlines, but I am saying that because we have to acknowledge that and to change that.”

Amorim started work as United boss during the November international window. In this league, he was won only three of 11 matches.

“Everybody here is underperforming, no matter what the circumstances,” he added. “We are underperforming and have to accept that. It’s unacceptable to lose so many games, for any Premier League club – imagine Manchester United.

“So it’s a really hard moment but we have to continue, we have to continue, there is no other way.”

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More than two months into Amorim’s reign, this expensively-assembled squad still look deeply uncertain of major elements of his system. The Portuguese has said it will take time to implement his ideas, but fans will want to know how much longer it will take.

“I knew it was going to be hard to put a completely new idea in the moment, but when you lose games and don’t win three games in a row it becomes really hard,” Amorim said.

“So that’s why I’m telling we are going to suffer because I will continue to do the same. To help my players is to give them the tools to play in this way, but then without training it is really hard…

“I am just here to help my players, but we need to understand we are breaking all the bad records.”

Brighton have now won at Old Trafford three seasons in a row, and won six of their last seven in the league against United.

After ending a run of eight Premier League games with a win last week, this was another step forward for Fabian Hurzeler’s side.

“I’m not surprised because of the performances from us in the last weeks, we got a lot of draws but we were very positive and consistent,” he said. “Of course we didn’t get the results we expected to have, but today we showed a mature performance and good balance.

“We knew how Manchester United will play and you can prepare for that, and we also had a feeling we are in a good moment, we had the momentum. We came here after two wins, we had a lot of self-belief and confidence.”

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Pep Guardiola wants Phil Foden to follow in Erling Haaland’s footsteps and commit his entire career to Manchester City.

Haaland this week signed an astonishing, bumper new nine-and-a-half-year contract, keeping him at the club until 2034.

The Norwegian striker celebrated with a goal in Sunday’s 6-0 rout of Ipswich, while Foden scored two.

England international Foden has been key to City’s recent mini-revival, having scored five goals in his last three Premier League outings.

His current deal runs until 2027, but Guardiola said: “He should not (leave).

“He can be a one-club man and finish his career here and play many, many years. At his age and with the amount of goals, the amount of games, the amount of assists, his work ethic.

“The biggest quality is that around the box he has goals in his blood, his bones, in his mind. He thinks, ‘I’m going to score’.

“It’s not easy to find. That’s why I want to try to put in him central positions because he has a specific quality.

“We talked many times over the last month or weeks, he was a completely different boy at the beginning of the season with a few problems, because they are human beings and sometimes in a long career you have a setback, it’s normal.

“But we’re really pleased that he’s happy again and enjoying playing and that’s really good for all of us.”

City look like they are enjoying playing again after racking up their biggest Premier League win in more than two years.

Mateo Kovacic, Jeremy Doku and James McAtee were also on target as the champions, who kicked off in eight place, moved above Newcastle into fourth on goal difference.

It was their best league win since hammering Nottingham Forest by the same scoreline in August 2022 and means, following their alarming run towards the end of last year of only one win in 14 matches, they are back in the top four for the first time since December 1.

“For a long time we didn’t perform in the way we have done and the most important thing today was obviously the result, but is the fact they realised what we were. For a long time, for many reasons we weren’t,” added Guardiola.

“The important thing is realising, ‘Oh, when we do this, OK, we can compete or we can be a team enjoying what we like to do’.

“Hopefully the players can feel it. We have talked a lot lately about what we have missed.”

Memories of Ipswich’s 9-0 humiliation by Manchester United 30 years ago came flooding back to many at Portman Road, but, mercifully for them, City declared on six.

Town boss Kieran McKenna said: “It was a painful game for us, no doubt about that. The opponent was too strong for us in all aspects.

“It was a good game for 27 minutes. We could have had the first goal. But after the first goal their confidence and quality went to a level we couldn’t deal with. It was a really difficult day.”

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